Chiefs vs. Chargers: Game and score predictions

Before the Kansas City Chiefs’ 26-3 victory over the Chicago Bears, the Arrowhead Pride staff unanimously picked the Chiefs to win. Most staffers, however, didn’t see the margin of victory being as great as it was; they simply thought the Bears would put more points on the board. 96% of our readers thought the Chiefs would win. 62% saw a blowout coming.

Let’s see what the staff — and our readers — think about the final game of the regular season, as the Chiefs take on the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead.

Tom Childs (@tomchilds56)

The defense is starting to get some national (or in my case, international) attention — and rightly so. They’ve been lights out for over a month, and I fully expect it continue this week. There’s a chance that this might be Philip Rivers’ last game for the Chargers — so here’s to making it a miserable one. This one will be all but over by halftime, meaning we can turn our attention to Fitzmagic & Company. Chiefs 31, Chargers 10

John Dixon (@Arrowheadphones)

Since it’s a division game, the standard warning applies: you shouldn’t overlook these guys. The reason the Chargers are often picked in the preseason to win the AFC West isn’t because analysts are stupid. It’s because Los Angeles tends to have talented players — and as long as Rivers is still standing, he’s a threat. But even with Rivers — and their other talented players — the Chargers just can’t seem to figure out how to win games consistently; in the last 10 seasons, they’ve been more than two games over .500 exactly once. I think the Chiefs will take care of their business. Chiefs 27, Chargers 10

Ron Kopp Jr. (@Ron_Kopp)

This game may end up becoming irrelevant if other NFL teams start pulling away in their coinciding matchups — but either way, I believe the Chiefs will be take it seriously and control it. Andy Reid knows this division too well — and heading into the postseason, it’s important that the Chiefs continue to build momentum and confidence in themselves. A big Terrell Suggs sack becomes the highlight in a comfortable victory. Chiefs 30, Chargers 13

Matt Lane (@ChiefinCarolina)

In a game that means very little for both squads, I’d expect the Chiefs talent to overwhelm the Chargers. Since they last met in Mexico City, the Chiefs have only played better and better. They should present quite a task for a Chargers team that isn’t playing for much. The Chiefs start hot and put this game early, allowing starters to rest in the second half. Chiefs 31, Chargers 20

Matt Stagner (@stagdsp)

A Chiefs team that is peaking at the right time will be motivated to keep rolling against a Chargers team that peaked in the offseason. The pass rush will have a big day against Philip Rivers and the secondary will get at least two interceptions. On offense, they’ll hit on enough big plays to salt this one away early. Chiefs 35, Chargers 17

Craig Stout (@barleyhop)

The Chiefs and the Chargers played a close game in Mexico with a massive defensive stop to win the game for Kansas City. That won’t be the case in this matchup. The Chargers have nothing to play for and will be up against a Chiefs team pressing for a higher playoff seed. The Chargers’ offensive weapons are legit and the return of Derwin James helps bolster their secondary. However, this Chiefs team is locked in, playing some of their best football. The Chargers couldn’t handle the Chiefs in a quieter environment with the Chiefs playing worse than they are right now. It won’t be a particularly close game. Chiefs 31, Chargers 17

Kent Swanson (@kent_swanson)

The Chiefs still have some things to play for — and want to use this game as an opportunity to keep building on their recent performances, hoping to peak in the playoffs. I expect a good performance against a team whose season ends after this game. I’m not sure the starters play for the entirety of the game, but whoever is in will play sharp for the duration. Chiefs 28, Chargers 10

Pete Sweeney (@pgsween)

In my eyes, this game is simple. The Chiefs still have reason to play to win. According to Andy Reid this week, that’s what they will do. The Chargers know that after they get through this game, it’s vacation time. I think the Chiefs start fast, the Chargers check out, and you see some Kansas City reserves in the fourth quarter. Chiefs 31, Chargers 10

Ties in the standings are broken with prediction points error — how much each prediction misses the actual point spread and the number of points scored by each team.

The AP staff’s composite prediction was for a 25.7-10.2 Chiefs win. The contributors had a pretty good handle on how many points the Chiefs would score, but thought the Bears would score at least a touchdown more than they did. With 15.0 points of error, the staff prediction wasn’t that bad — but it wasn’t that good, either.

Craig Stout and Pete Sweeney had the closest predictions, each accumulating 10 points of error with guesses of 24-6 and 31-7. Pete came closest to predicting the point spread. Behind them were Ethan Douglas and Ron Kopp, Jr., who each had 14 points of error with predictions of 27-10 and 28-10.